American Fugitive Nintendo Switch Review

American Fugitive

American Fugitive on Nintendo Switch is a modern take on classic sandbox action offering a new 3D top-down open-world single-player experience. Welcome to Redrock County, a sleepy American town with a booming criminal underbelly. You take the role of Will Riley. No angel for sure – but not a killer. Yet the cold-blooded murder of your dad is the crime they locked you up for. Fuelled by grief and a burning desire for vengeance, you’ll bust out of jail intent on finding the real culprit. Once outside, you’ll need to blend with the townsfolk to avoid recapture. Establish contact with the criminal underworld and stay one step ahead of the police dragnet. Set in the deep south of the 1980s, American Fugitive is a love-letter to the classic movies and games of old. It’s a race against time, and JUSTICE AIN’T ALWAYS LEGAL.

American Fugitive utilizes a 3-D top-down view. This reminds me a lot of old GTA games, and with the added 3-D there’s more depth and texture to the world. The music is very “out in sticks” style banjo/guitar. Don’t expect a lot of music choices.

They use a shaded look to the overall game, very similar to Borderlands. I think this works well for the Switch, as it can handle these graphical requirements with ease. When I first got the game there was a lot of stuttering and this made driving very difficult. This was resolved with a recent update, which is great to see from the devs.

The gameplay feels on par with the games American Fugitive takes after. You will have to drive to pick up someone and then drive a bit more to drop them off. There are multiple shoot outs with the cops which is always fun as well. Due to the much smaller map, some side missions may feel repetitive.

American Fugitive Nintendo Switch Trailer

You will have to speak to a number of people throughout the game. This is to track down information regarding your father’s death, and also to complete missions. The police are a big part of the game, and you have to be super careful not to get on their bad side. Even things like driving into a tree can get you on their radar.

One of my favourite parts of the game is the inclusion of burglary. You can find any building, scout it out, then break in and steal the contents. You just walk up to the window, look inside and if the coast is a clear break in. This then flips to a 2-D view of the house, with each room in its own space. You can then go into each room and take the contents if you find the homeowner you can run or attack them. There is also a timer for the police, which makes you rush through the rooms, making sure to get the best amount of stuff.

When the police do come to the building, they will start to surround it. With a little police symbol appearing by each room. They will stop you from escaping, so you’d have to make it to a room with a window without a police presence.

I feel this game was made for the Switch. The top-down 3-D view is great and the overall graphics play well on docked or handheld mode. American Fugitive is such a polished great looking game. It has the best look I have seen for a while, and the gameplay is fantastic. Finally, check out our other gaming reviews.